Stage 3
5:30am PDT - It's overcast in France just after
a thunderstorm has
blown through, cooling things down from 90 degrees
to a nice 75.
CORRECTION - there are 189 riders in this years
tour.
There are three riders in a breakaway leading
the peleton by 4'30".
The sun keeps trying to come out as the peleton
reel them back in
slowly. Lance is back in his Team Discovery jersey,
American Dave
Zabriskie of CSC in yellow,Tom Boonen has the
green, and Thomas
Voeckler in the polka-dotted jersey of the King
of the Mountains.
Today's mostly flat stage runs 212.5 km from La
Chataigneraie to Tours
through the magnificent Loire Valley, full of
some of the most beautiful
chateaus in the world.
It's an amazing day with only one minor incident
when again too many
riders try to fit through a narrow point in the
road. No one goes down,
but several are forced off the main road onto
the dirt and have to
cross-country it for several yards, but thankfully
no one is hurt.
The breakaway fights as hard as they can, but
are eventually caught
just inside 3k.
Tom Boonen takes the stage again, staying in the
green, Erik Dekker
takes the King of the Mountains, and Dave Zabriskie
stays in the
yellow, 2" in front of Lance.
Tomorrow is the Team Time Trial - a chance for
Lance to take the
yellow, but also a chance for CSC to defend the
yellow for themselves.
It's going to be a very interesting day!
More tomorrow....
Tally